UCLA guard Lazeric Jones, left, drives on Oregon State guard Jared Cunningham during the first half of their NCAA college basketball game in Corvallis, Ore., Thursday, Jan. 13, 2011. Yahoo Sports. Bruins Beat Beavers, 62-57
Lazeric Jones and Reeves Nelson had 13 points each for UCLA.
The Official UCLA Men's Basketball website
Jan. 13, 2011
CORVALLIS, Ore. (AP) - UCLA blew a 17-point second-half lead, then scored the game's final seven points to defeat Oregon State 62-57 on Thursday night.
Lazeric Jones and Reeves Nelson had 13 points each for the Bruins (10-6, 2-2 Pac-10), which led 47-30 after Nelson's basket with 15:57 remaining.
Roberto Nelson had 13 points off the bench for Oregon State (7-9, 2-3). His 3-pointer gave the Beavers their only lead, 57-55, with 2:44 to play.
Joshua Smith tied the score with two free throws, and Jones hit the go-ahead basket for UCLA with 39 seconds left.
Oregon State's Calvin Haynes missed a close shot, and Smith grabbed the rebound and was fouled. He made both free throws with 16 seconds left to put the Bruins ahead 61-57.
UCLA was 23 of 47 from the field; Oregon State 20 of 62. The Bruins had a 41-34 rebounding edge.
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The Fabulous Forum
The who, what, where, when,
why — and why not — of L.A. sports
UCLA basketball: Bruins escape with a 62-57 victory over Oregon State
By Ben Bolch
The Los Angeles Times
January 13, 2011 | 7:44 pm
Whether UCLA is having a good season or a bad one doesn't seem to matter.
When the Bruins play Oregon State, they just win.
But there's rarely as much drama as there was in the final minutes Thursday night at Gill Coliseum during UCLA's 62-57 victory over the Beavers, giving the Bruins their 13th consecutive triumph in the series.
Oregon State wiped out a 17-point, second-half deficit, taking a 57-55 lead on Roberto Nelson's three-pointer with 2 minutes 44 seconds left.
But two free throws by UCLA's Joshua Smith tied the score before Bruins guard Lazeric Jones made a pull-up jumper with 39 seconds left. Smith made two more free throws with 16 seconds left to seal the outcome.
Jones and Reeves Nelson had 13 points apiece for UCLA (10-6 overall, 2-2 Pacific 10 Conference). Nelson had 13 to lead Oregon State (7-9, 2-3).
The Bruins have not lost in Corvallis, Ore., since Dec. 31, 2004. They had won their previous five games here by an average of 16 points.
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Big man in the middle, Joshua Smith (Associated Press)Joshua Smith leads UCLA past Oregon State, 62-57
The freshman center makes four free throws in the final 2 1/2 minutes after the Bruins squander an early 17-point lead.
January 13, 2011|By Ben Bolch
The Los Angeles Times
Reporting from Corvallis, Ore. — Mom and dad make everything better.
Joshua Smith played his first college game in front of his parents Thursday night at Gill Coliseum, and they had a calming effect for the UCLA freshman center at the end of a tumultuous day.
Smith made four free throws in the final 2 1/2 minutes to help the Bruins pull out a 62-57 victory over Oregon State on the same day he was reprimanded by the Pacific 10 Conference for critical comments about officiating earlier in the week.
Smith's parents made the 4 1/2-hour drive from the Seattle area to watch their son play.
"It's always good to have your mom and dad sitting behind the bench," said Smith, who finished with 10 points and nine rebounds.
After Oregon State had wiped out a 17-point, second-half deficit to take a 57-55 lead on Roberto Nelson's three-pointer, Smith made two free throws with 2 minutes 24 seconds left to tie the score.
Then, after guard Lazeric Jones made a pull-up jumper with 39 seconds left to give the Bruins the lead, Smith made two more free throws to increase the cushion to 61-57.
"That was phenomenal, the way he stepped up and knocked down four huge free throws," UCLA Coach Ben Howland said of Smith, who was making only 55.6% of his free throws before the game.
Jones and Reeves Nelson scored 13 points apiece for the Bruins (10-6 overall, 2-2 Pac-10), who stretched their winning streak against the Beavers (7-8, 2-2) to 12 games.
Drama is usually lacking when these teams meet.
The Bruins had won their previous 11 games in the series by an average of 22 points and had not lost here since 2004.
It looked like more of the same when UCLA raced to an early 17-point lead and held the same advantage early in the second half. But Oregon State went on an 18-2 run in which the Beavers held the Bruins scoreless for nearly six minutes.
"They were just outhustling us," Jones said. "They wanted it more than we did."
Nelson finished with 13 points for Oregon State, which had 15 steals and forced 21 turnovers.
But the Beavers couldn't do anything about Smith at the foul line.
"I felt calm," Smith said. "I went up there and just did my regular routine."
Smith had received a public reprimand from the Pac-10 earlier in the day and spoke with Senior Associate Commissioner Gloria Nevarez, who told him the comments he had made about the officiating following UCLA's loss to USC on Sunday were unacceptable. Smith had called the referees "terrible" after fouling out.
"They said if I said something like that again I could be suspended," Smith said, "so I'm done with that."
Howland started forward Brendan Lane instead of Smith, but the coach said it was only to help Smith avoid foul trouble. Smith finished with four fouls in 23 minutes.
Smith said his mother, who made the 4 1/2 -hour drive from Seattle with his father, did her part to help distract Oregon State during the first half, making a noise when a Beavers player shot a free throw. "It was kind of funny," he said.
Howland did not find much humor in the way his team suffered another long second-half lull, shooting only 33.3% and making only one of seven three-point attempts. But in the end, disaster was averted.
"It's huge," he said. "I mean, could you imagine how we would feel right now if I was sitting here talking about the loss after being up 17? I hope we can look back at the end of the season and say this was a turning point. That would be great."
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Smith's late free throws help UCLA hold off Oregon State
By The Associated Press
via the Los Angeles Daily News
Posted: 01/14/2011 01:52:37 AM PST
Updated: 01/14/2011 01:53:05 AM PST
CORVALLIS, Ore. - Joshua Smith was calm when he walked to the free-throw line with the game hanging in the balance.
Smith, a 55.6-percent foul shooter, made four straight shots from the line in the final 2:24 to help UCLA to a 62-57 win against Oregon State on Thursday night.
"There should be no pressure at all," said Smith, a 6-foot-10 freshman center, who was a combined 5 of 14 on freethrows in his previous fourgames. "I just went up there, had my regular routine and made them."
Smith helped his team avoid disaster, as UCLA blew a 17-point second-half lead.
Lazeric Jones and Reeves Nelson had 13 points each for the Bruins (10-6, 2-2 Pac-10), who led 47-30 after Nelson's basket with 15:57 remaining.
Roberto Nelson had 13 points off the bench for Oregon State (7-9, 2-3). His 3-pointer gave the Beavers their only lead at 57-55 with 2:44 to play. UCLA scored the game's final seven points.
Bruins coach Ben Howland joked with his team afterward, saying that whenever it's a close game, Smith needs to get the ball so he can get fouled and make free throws.
"That was phenomenal. He stepped up and knocked down four huge free throws," Howland said of Smith, who finished with 10 points and nine rebounds. "He did a great job for us down the stretch.
"He's been working on it. He's getting better at it, and he showed great focus and concentration on those free throws."
Smith made the score 57-57 with two free throws, and Jones hit the go-ahead basket for UCLA with 39 seconds left.
Jones, who suffered a ruptured tendon in the middle finger of his right hand in a Dec. 31 loss to Washington, was 0 for 10 shooting in the two games prior to Thursday.
Oregon State's Calvin Haynes (Taft) missed a close shot, and Smith grabbed the rebound and was fouled. He made both free throws with 16 seconds left to put the Bruins ahead 61-57.
"I think the guys showed composure and mental toughness," Howland said.
Added Smith: "We knew it was still our game. We just had to play hard and play defense. We played defense, they missed some shots, we got rebounds and made some free throws."
UCLA was 23 of 47 from the field; Oregon State 20 of 62. The Bruins had a 41-34 rebounding edge.
The Beavers, whose 10.9 steals per game entering Thursday ranked second in the nation, finished with 15.
Reeves Nelson followed Tyler Honeycutt's 3-pointer with a three-point play as the Bruins built a 43-26 cushion. Kevin McShane's basket with 11:58 remaining capped a 10-2 Oregon State run that cut UCLA's lead to 49-40.
After a Reeves Nelson layup, the Beavers reeled off 11 unanswered points during a five-minute stretch to tie the score. Joe Burton's basket off a Cunningham pass finished the run, making it 51-51 with 6:22 remaining.
UCLA scored the next four points, but Oregon State came back with two 3-pointers. The second, by Roberto Nelson, gave the Beavers a brief lead.
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Smith stays calm, helps UCLA escape with victory
By SCOTT M. REID
THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Published: Jan. 13, 2011
Updated: 10:53 p.m.
CORVALLIS, Ore. – Everyone seemed to want to give Joshua Smith an earful this week:
• USC fans taunted the UCLA freshman center with off-color remarks about his parents, prompting Smith to respond with an obscene gesture of his own.
• Pac-10 commissioner Larry Scott, who on Thursday reprimanded Smith for criticizing game officials.
• A top Pac-10 official, who promised Smith he would be suspended if he didn't zip it.
• UCLA coach Ben Howland, who said it was time for Smith to "grow up."
Smith did just that in the closing and crucial moments of UCLA's 62-57 victory against Oregon State on Thursday at Gill Coliseum.
With UCLA (10-6, 2-2) having blown a 17-point second-half lead and in danger of dropping a third consecutive game, Smith stepped to the foul line four times in the final 2:24 and drained every shot.
"That was phenomenal because he stepped up and knocked down four huge free throws," Howland said. "He did a great job for us down the stretch."
Oregon State (7-9, 2-3) took its first lead of the night, 57-55, on a Roberto Nelson 3-pointer with 2:47 remaining.
Smith made a pair of free throws with 2:24 left, then after Lazeric Jones gave the Bruins the lead for good, Smith pulled down a crucial defensive rebound and then added a pair of insurance free throws with 17 seconds left.
"Should be no pressure at all," Smith recalled telling himself. "Just did my regular routine and just went up and made them."
He finished with 10 points and a game-high nine rebounds.
The week leading up to Smith's transformative moment didn't go nearly as smoothly. He was in foul trouble for most of UCLA's 63-52 loss at USC on Sunday and eventually fouled out.
Afterward, he blasted the game's officials, drawing widespread wrath that started with his parents.
"It's time to man up," his father, Josh, told him.
In Thursday's final and defining moments, he did.
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UCLA holds on to sink Oregon State 62-57 after blowing a 17-point lead
By MATT STEVENS
Published January 14, 2011
The Daily Bruin in Men's Basketball, Sports
Updated: 5:19 PM
CORVALLIS, Ore. – On Tuesday, coach Ben Howland said that his freshman center needed to “grow up.”
Thursday night, with his parents watching, Joshua Smith grew leaps and bounds.
Smith, who struggled all season with free throws and foul trouble, hit two critical free throws to tie the game and then two more to seal a 62-57 win against Oregon State.
In so doing, he saved his team from what would have been its most demoralizing loss of the year.
“I told the team after the game to give the ball to Josh so he can get fouled,” Howland joked after the game. “That was phenomenal. We needed a win desperately.”
UCLA (10-6, 2-2 Pac-10) watched a 17-point lead evaporate during the second half against Oregon State (7-9, 2-3), but this time the Bruins wouldn’t cave.
As the game wound down, Smith was on the court rather than the bench – and that ultimately made all the difference.
“That showed a lot of guts to go up there and make those two shots with everything that was going on (for him) right now,” junior guard Lazeric Jones said.
Jones also made a big shot down the stretch, nailing a long two-pointer from the top of the key on a broken play. The jumper put the Bruins up two with 43 seconds remaining, and Smith’s final two free throws put the game out of reach for good.
“I knew if I hit these, I’d ice the game,” said Smith, who finished with 10 points and nine rebounds.
The Bruins were lucky to escape Corvallis with a win that looked all but guaranteed by halftime.
The Bruins pounced on a Beaver team that shot an abysmal 23 percent from the field in the first half and took a 15-point lead into halftime.
But UCLA struggled mightily against Oregon State’s 1-3-1 zone in the second half, often passing and dribbling around the perimeter until the shot clock forced a low-percentage shot.
While the Bruins remained stuck on 51 points for more than five minutes, the Beavers continued orchestrating an 18-2 run that pumped life into the crowd of 7,000 in Gill Coliseum.
During the run, Smith showed signs of his bad habits, picking up his third and fourth fouls in a span of only 16 seconds.
A three-pointer by freshman guard Roberto Nelson gave the Beavers their only lead of the game with 2:48 to play, but the Bruins refused to capitulate.
“We definitely could have easily lost this game, but we didn’t, that’s all that matters,” junior guard Malcolm Lee said.
Falling behind late isn’t new for UCLA, but winning an important game after falling behind is.
It’s also something Howland is extremely proud of.
“I hope we can look back at this at the end of the season and say it was a turning point,” Howland said.
Smith reprimanded by Pac-10
Smith confirmed that he received a call from the conference Wednesday admonishing him for speaking out against officials after Sunday’s loss to USC. He said the representative he spoke to warned him that if he criticized referees again, the league would take action and issue a suspension.
Smith added that after Thursday’s game officials told him that he did a good job communicating. He also said that he has adopted a new strategy for dealing with any frustration.
“I’m not trying to talk to them as much, because if I’m not talking to them then I’m not fouling,” he said.
“I’m done with that.”
Smith’s father Joshua Smith Sr. said that he spoke with his son, and told him to “man up a little bit.”
“He’s going to be really, really good in about a year,” the elder Smith said. “He’s just going to putter around up and down his freshman year. But give him about a year – you watch him – with the coaching and everything, he loves being down there.”
Ducks next for the Bruins
The victory over Oregon State gives UCLA a .500 record in the Pac-10 going into Eugene, Ore., for its Saturday contest against Oregon.
The Bruins will be looking to pick up another important conference win against the Ducks, who rank last in the Pac-10.
The game will be the second one played in Matthew Knight Arena, the Ducks’ new basketball facility.
Oregon broke in the structure with a 68-62 win over USC on Thursday, its first conference win of the year.
The Ducks are led by senior forward Joevan Catron, who is first on the team with 15.9 points and 6.4 rebounds per game.
Click on boxscore to enlarge (Yahoo Sports)
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